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Arizona’s water troubles show how climate change is reshaping the West

In one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country, it’s a boom time — water-intensive microchip companies and data centers moving in; tens of thousands of houses spreading deep into the desert. But it is also a time of crisis: Climate change is drying up the American West and putting fundamental resources at ever greater risk.

The decision by Arizona in the past week to limit residential construction in some parts of the fast-growing Phoenix suburbs is another major warning about how climate change is disrupting lifestyles and economies in the West. Throughout the region, glaciers have receded, wildfires have expanded, rivers and lakes have shrunk. It has been a wet winter, but the deeper trends brought on by the warming atmosphere persist.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/06/04/water-shortage-arizona-california-utah-climate-change/

Climate paradox: Emission cuts could ‘unmask’ deadly face of climate change, scientists warn

One recent study cast the well-known declines in air pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic in a darker light.

These cuts remain one of the only examples of successful cuts to climate-warming pollution, but the new study found that those pandemic-era cuts in air pollution led to a rise in global temperatures.

The findings, published on Wednesday in the journal NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science, unveil a stark paradox at the heart of human-caused climate change.

It suggests that while cutting fossil fuel pollution is necessary for avoiding severe destruction over the long term — such cuts will make things noticeably worse in the short term.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/climate-paradox-emission-cuts-could-unmask-deadly-face-of-climate-change-scientists-warn/ar-AA1bYVbp

Heat wave and wildfires scorch east Canada

https://phys.org/news/2023-06-wildfires-east-canada.html

Eastern Canada sweltered under a record-breaking heat wave on Thursday that risked inflaming wildfires ravaging the Atlantic coast and other parts of the country with "unprecedented" ferocity and scale.

More than 210 fires were burning across Canada, including 82 out of control. And more than 2.7 million hectares have been scorched already this year, eight times more than the last three decades' average, say officials.

After major flareups in the west of the country in May, notably in the Prairies provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, firefighting shifted in the past week to Nova Scotia on the Atlantic coast—which is unaccustomed to severe wildfires—following hot, dry weather moving eastward.

"It's a simple fact that Canada's experiencing the impacts of climate change, including more frequent and more extreme wildfires," Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said, projecting the amount of forest burned by wildfires to double by 2050.



Cracks emerging in Europe’s united front to battle climate change

The first sign was earlier this year when Germany, the bloc’s economic giant, delayed a deal to ban new internal combustion engines in the EU by 2035 amid ideological divisions inside the German government.

An agreement was finally reached in March, but just weeks later, the bloc’s other powerhouse, France, called for a pause on EU environmental regulation, causing controversy.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo followed suit, calling this week for a moratorium on the introduction of EU legislation aimed at nature preservation, creating a rift within the governing coalition including green politicians.

Macron and De Croo have found allies at the European Parliament, where members of the sizable European People’s Party Group, or EPP Group, have asked the European Commission to withdraw the nature restoration law proposal on grounds that it will threaten agriculture and undermine food security in Europe.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-05-27/cracks-emerging-in-europes-united-front-to-battle-climate-change

Bangladesh to sizzle in heatwave until second week of June as monsoon may arrive late



The government has already ordered shutdown of the state-run primary schools from Jun 8, considering the impact of the heatwave on children.

This year, as soon as the summer kicked in, the mercury rose to an exceptional level, especially in April.

By mid-April this year, Khulna, Rajshahi and Dhaka divisions and their surrounding areas were experiencing mild to moderate heatwaves. Rain and storms relieved some afterwards, but a moderate to intense heatwave returned at the end of the month.

On Apr 16, Dhaka saw the temperature reach 40.6 degrees Celsius, the highest in the city in 58 years.

https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/irnt5szbok

Sweltering heat in Vietnam’s north sparks power cuts

Vietnam is one of many countries across South and Southeast Asia experiencing record-high temperatures in recent weeks. As the temperature rose to 36 degrees Celsius, Bui Manh Duc Tai and his napping girlfriend were among those at the Aeon shopping mall trying to escape the blistering heat. “Our home was without power since this morning. We came here for some cool air,” Tai told AFP. In another corner, student Nguyen Minh Thu sat on the floor trying to finish an assignment on her laptop. “I had to come here for power so I could study,” the agriculture student said, adding the electricity at her home had been on and off all morning.

Average power consumption in Hanoi in May increased by more than 22.5 percent compared with April, Vietnam Electricity said. State media also reported power cuts in recent days in Quang Ninh province — home to the world heritage-listed Ha Long Bay. Several restaurants in Ha Long city were out of food on Friday night because power outages meant people could not cook at home. Power cuts also hit hotels on popular islands. Authorities have also turned off streetlights in some major cities to save power.

https://dailytimes.com.pk/1100013/sweltering-heat-in-vietnams-north-sparks-power-cuts/

An Iowa girl asked Warren Buffett about climate change. He blew the answer

Watch here at 59 minutes:

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Deeply alarmed by the dangers we face from our rapidly changing climate, she pointedly asked that Berkshire accelerate the retirement of the five Iowa coal plants run by its subsidiary MidAmerican Energy. Hannah pointed out that these plants are enormous sources of greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants, and she said it is past time to replace them with a proper mix of solar, battery storage and wind.

https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/2023/06/03/warren-buffett-misses-climate-change/70273593007/